The Key to Living High

I try to picture the girl through a looking glass
And see her as a carbon atom
See her eyes and stare back at them
See that girl as her own new world
Though her home is on the surface she is still a universe

Glory God, oh God is peeking through the blinds
Are we all here standing naked, taking guesses at the actual date and time
Oh my, justifying the reasons why
Is an absolutely insane resolution to live by

Live high, live mighty
Live righteously, taking it easy

I try to picture the man to always have an open hand
And see him as a giving tree
And see him as matter, ‘matter of fact he’s not a beast
No, not the devil either
Always a good-deed doer
Where it’s laughter that we’re making after all
The call of the wild is still in order nationwide
In the order of the primates, all our politics are too late
Oh my, the congregation in my mind
Is this assembly singing gratitude, practicing their loving for you

Just take it easy and celebrate the malleable reality
See nothing is ever as it seems
Yet this life is but a dream

How looking glass and carbon atom go hand-in-hand in the opening lyric is nothing short of brilliant. Besides other lit classics mentioned, he must have loved Alice quite well.

You and I Both is the kind of song you listen to on the radio and want to hear again because you didn’t quite get the lyrics the first time. And how unencumbered is not a cumbersome lyric is a stroke of genius. Goes without saying that his clear diction lifts the song to new heights.

Beautiful Mess, though, is the one I love the most. In the extended chorus towards the ending, the waltz rhythm takes centrestage and the song becomes a dance, becomes a priceless picture.

You’ve got the best of both worlds
You’re the kind of girl who can take down a man,
And lift him back up again
You are strong but you’re needy,
Humble but you’re greedy
And based on your body language,
And shoddy cursive I’ve been reading
Your style is quite selective,
though your mind is rather reckless
Well I guess it just suggests
that this is just what happiness is

Hey, what a beautiful mess this is
It’s like picking up trash in dresses

Well it kind of hurts when the kind of words you write
Kind of turn themselves into knives
And don’t mind my nerve you could call it fiction
But I like being submerged in your contradictions dear
‘Cause here we are, here we are

Although you were biased I love your advice
Your comebacks they’re quick
And probably have to do with your insecurities
There’s no shame in being crazy,
Depending on how you take these
Words I’m paraphrasing this relationship we’re staging

Well it kind of hurts when the kind of words you say
Kind of turn themselves into blades
And the kind and courteous is a life I’ve heard
But it’s nice to say that we played in the dirt
Cause here, here we are, Here we are
Here we are [x7]

We’re still here
What a beautiful mess, this is
It’s like taking a guess when the only answer is “Yes”

Through timeless words and priceless pictures
We’ll fly like birds not of this earth
And tides they turn and hearts disfigure
But that’s no concern when we’re wounded together
And we tore our dresses and stained our shirts
But it’s nice today, Oh the wait was so worth it.

Related

Jason Mraz is one of the few artists that I still enjoy listening to, even though I have known him ever since the time I started really listening to music and getting into it. I think that you’ve made a good choice in highlighting this artist; especially since I think that his pieces aren’t appreciated enough. Most of the common teenage generation wouldn’t look past his hit single “I’m Yours”, a good song, but too mainstream for my liking.

Perhaps you should listen to this song by him; Only Human, if you haven’t. He tends to get in a very Reggae mood with his songs, and I enjoyed this one precisely because of that. Also, his rendition of Lionel Ritchie’s is a soothing one which you might also want to take some time to listen to (:

Hey S, thanks for all your comments! I do appreciate them. Yes, I do like Only Human, and the way he is unselfconscious about songwriting and using words like plagiarize (You and I Both), Nintendo, fish sticks, etc. He is acknowledged universally to be a genius singer-songwriter. I do love his diction (he has a background of singing in musicals)!